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Support Lift this #GivingTuesday

Submitted by merenberg on November 28th, 2016

On this Giving Tuesday, many of us find ourselves, we find ourselves faced with unprecedented uncertainties not only at the federal level, but also in Louisiana, a state that has been increasingly hostile to women’s health and may be even more empowered to impose harsher barriers to healthcare and information.

We have known for decades that Louisiana’s policies do not put women and their families in charge of their own health care. For women of color and poor women, living in Louisiana can have downright dire health outcomes.

Just look at the numbers:

In the 2016 March of Dimes annual report card, Louisiana received an F, with a pre-term birth of 12.3%;

More than half of all pregnancies in Louisiana are unplanned - costing the state and federal governments $651 million;

1 in 4 women of color receive delayed prenatal care or none at all;

Black women are 3 times more likely to die of pregnancy related causes than anywhere else in the country; and

Black infants are almost twice as likely to die before their first birthday than their white counterparts.

Lift Louisiana is working to change the public policies behind these statistics. We are determined to work for, and with, all women of Louisiana, regardless of age, race and ethnicity, or how much money she makes, to be empowered to shape the course of their own lives by having the appropriate resources and access to reproductive health information and care.

Together we will take our legislators to task on bills and laws that harm Louisiana's women and advocate for all women to have the resources, information and access to healthcare we need to enjoy a healthy life.